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10.31.2014

Happy Halloween!

No trick-or-treating for us tonight, though. See, one of the unique things of living in The ‘Ville is that the community does such a great job of offering family-friendly trick-or-treating activities that doing the traditional door-to-door candy begging on Halloween is an afterthought and almost unnecessary in these parts. ... Our doorbell rang just twice tonight, and we live on a fairly prominent residential street.

On the Saturday evening before Halloween, families flock to the lake and campground outside of town to trick-or-treat, collecting candy from all the RV campers – some of which turn their campsites into elaborate haunts. This was the first year since making the move here that Kates and I were unable to take our girls because of another commitment.

But we made up for it last night. First, there was the downtown trick-or-treating, which invites families to visit businesses on the town square for candy and other goodies. The churches participate by offering free games and prizes, and the Elks Club hands out free hot dogs fresh off the grill.

From the square, we headed to campus for the annual Trick-or-Treat in the Halls. Students in the university’s residence halls sign up to participate and then open their doors to hand out candy to any little ones who visit between the hours of 6 and 8.

It was a gorgeous evening to be out and we had great fun – perhaps the most fun of all our Halloweens with the girls so far.

And this year, Phoebe went as Elsa from “Frozen,” and Faye went as her trusty companion, Olaf.

Phoebe, of course, decided months ago that she would dress as Elsa, and Grandma S. awesomely replicated the famous dress for her.

Faye’s fate as Olaf was sealed only a few weeks ago when Kates was doing some shopping and spotted the Olaf costume. When we shared it with Faye, she was all in and wore it adorably.

We were showered with “Awwwww” around every corner we turned with the girls last night, especially by all the college girls in university residence halls.

Of course – as this is the year of “Frozen” – we passed dozens of other little ones dressing up as “Frozen” characters, especially girls in Elsa dresses. It was no wonder that once I posted a picture of the girls in their costumes on Facebook that a friend of ours posted a reply of “And drink,” implying that she was playing a drinking game based on the number of pictures posted of children in “Frozen” costumes.

This morning, we all went out once more, joining Faye and her daycare group for trick-or-treating at the hospital. Phoebe and Kates didn't have school, and I took a couple hours away from my work, so all of us could share in the fun. ... What fun it was, and Faye filled her little plastic bag so full it was almost too heavy for her to carry.